The Wildhearts at Shepherd’s Bush London June 6, 2024 Review and Photographs by Dawn Osborne

Named after the misspelling of the fiend Asomuel from occult literature, ASOMVEL are a band which, while they don’t sound exactly like Motorhead, wear their Lemmy influences on their sleeve. Vocalist Ralph Robinson bears a passing resemblance to the man himself and amplifies that by wearing similar tight dark strides, bullet belt, and a leather jacket with pins similar to that worn by Lemmy in his youth. Song title such as ‘Louder’ and ‘Born To Rock ‘n’Roll’,  a raspy vocal, and memorable choruses continue the comparison. Wall to Wall Marshall amps mean they are indeed very loud and with energy settings on attack/mean business, they’re a lively watch. Not breaking the mould, but their classic headbanging style will please those looking for exactly that.

Florence Black are a Welsh threesome which alternate between shouty headbangers and more Southern Rock orientated heavy rock with more traditional plaintive guitar solos. They appear to be having some technical problems, but then there seem to be some Black Sabbath style mystical meanderings at the beginning of quite a few tracks which some might describe as noodling: it was difficult to know if these were planned or imposed by conditions.If planned I would be inclined to recommend getting on with it in future from the off.

Something Ginger already has taken to his very wild heart. Kicking off with ‘Sleepaway’: its alternating, good time Rocker sections, interspersed with harder aggressive interludes, set the blueprint for this concert from the off. Ginger looks happy and totally switched on. Sometimes in the past he has been quieter for the first couple of songs, eyes shut and concentrating on getting through them, before easing into it. Tonight is a different story: he is laser-like engaged with the crowd from the very first minute. This was a total relief, since, although I was in the group of first photographers given a shot in the pit, we are cleared out by the middle of the second song. Still, with Ginger’s settings going to eleven immediately tonight that is more than enough to get some good shots of him, leaving me to enjoy the rest of the concert.

 

 

By the second song ‘Diagnosis’ the crowd are singing the chorus with all of their hearts and souls, they have clearly missed Ginger since the last time they have seen him and he is welcomed like a hometown hero. He is with his tribe, and his comfort is palatable and indicated by the size of the smile on his face. With his determination to land with a bang, there is pyro and confetti within the third and fourth song ‘Suckerpunch’ and ‘I Wanna Go Where The People Go’.

 

Famously, the classic line up of The Wildhearts is no more, but Ginger carried the torch for the band throughout all the years, and the enthusiasm to hear Wildhearts songs is undimmed. Ginger is not known for not calling out the elephant in the room and he addresses the topic right at the start of the concert, telling the crowd that the line up is different, but the fans are still the same and that what really matters.

 

By the time he tackles ‘Caffeine Bomb’ Ginger looks like he’s just had one. He’s hard at it and driving the hits home with a metaphoric jackhammer. The rest of the band are not too showy onstage, just careful to deliver the songs and support Ginger with everything they do.

 

Having well and truly hit the mark with the first few songs, the set list turns to the lesser played song ‘Slaughtered Authors’ and a slight change of pace with its melodic and epic sections. Ginger is lit in blood red light and with his deadlocked top not and colourful tattoos has the look of a Hindu god, a totally iconic look. Thrashy interludes are never far away though tonight, as they launch full throttle into the ritual of the synchronised beats, through to the screamed refrains at the end of ‘The Jackson Whites’.

 

With a humorous reference to these more rarely heard songs Ginger says ‘Looking down this set list, I don’t think I recognise all these songs, but I think you’ll recognise this one’ before a beaming version of ‘Mazel Tov Cocktail’. Even his mike stand falling over can’t take the shine off for him as he smiles right through the minor cock up, rescued immediately by long time tech ‘Dunc’. The crowd is still with Ginger hook like and sinker and the whole place goes crazy as he launches into favourite ‘Vanilla Radio’. As his mike stand rocks away Ginger’s pivot his neck like a metronome following it side to side in a dance-y way communicating his sheer joy.

 

 

 

Triumphs in the bag it’s time to take a risk manifested by playing the new track ‘Eventually’ which is apparently the first track from the new album, which will be out in September. It has a catchy chorus, riffs like 70s Pop and screaming vocals. Wildhearts DNA runs through it like a seaside stick of rock.

 

For ‘Everlone’ Ginger grabs his mike to his face like his life depends on it, wiping his face with his polka dot black and white scarf, seen with him since his time with the Quireboys. Everyone except the drummer mounts the monitors and engages the crowds with Ginger doing a trade mark high jump back to the stage.

 

We are treated to another new song, the title of which Ginger said was given to him by his middle child ‘Hurt People Hurt People’. In the icy blue light it is very poignant with its softer chorus and big melodic long notes. Ultimately it is a song of hope.

 

The main set finishes with the cacophony of ‘Chutzpah’ relentless power and force and a brilliant, lilting, eighties style guitar solo, cutting through the noise like a stiletto knife from guitarist and returning Wildhearts member Ben Dawson.

 

 

The crowd welcome the band back with a rousing football chant version of ‘Don’t Worry About Me’. Ginger acknowledges the loyalty and solidarity they demonstrate by saying ‘this is what it’s all about’.

 

A couple of out of tune guitars in the encore don’t deter the band from smashing home the songs ‘Greetings From Shitsville’, my favourite ‘My Baby Is A Headfuck’ and ‘Caprice’ (Dunc arrives just in time with another axe). The crowd shout ‘London’ in the first encore with a real emphasis, riffing on the location of the gig in the capital tonight. The crowd has known the songs throughout, coming in on gang vocals like the ‘headfuck’ chant without missing a beat. They even sing backing vocals through the show that appear on recorded versions, but which the band aren’t playing. This band have inspired a fanatical following and tonight proved the passion of the fans matches the passion of the band.

Dawn Osborne